If I and my family have to survive,I have to make sure this crop survives even if it means buying water for the field at exorbitant rates. There is no sign of rain,if this cotton crop fails,we will end up in a debt that we wont be able to ever repay, says N Shivanarayana,a small farmer from Mogiligidda village in Farrukhnagar Mandal of Mahabubnagar district. Shivanarayana borrowed Rs 20,000 in April to buy cotton seeds and fertilisers expecting good rainfall and a good yield. Today,however,he is struggling to keep the crop that sprouted about a month ago from withering away. The two borewells in his and the neighbouring field have dried up and so have some 21 other borewells in the surrounding area. In a desperate effort to save the crop,and himself,Shivanarayana is borrowing money to buy water from a private borewell to water his crop. Depending on the demand,the water supplier charges Rs 100 to Rs 200 for three barrels of 50 litres each,which he brings in an autorickshaw. We need at least six barrels so he makes two trips and charges Rs 100 more. The barrels are dropped on the road and from there we fill buckets and carry them to the field. My entire family including my mother,wife,sisters,children toil the entire day, he says. The crop needs water once every three days and he ends up borrowing more money every week to keep the crop from dying. We may have to forego one meal today,but we have to buy water for the crop. Otherwise,it will wither away and we wont be able to repay the debt, his mother Kanaka says,struggling to lift a bucket on to her shoulder. It is a long walk from the road to the other end of the field and the women sit down to rest after every trip,but they are forced to hurry up as the barrels have to be emptied and given back to the supplier who is in a hurry to leave. Across the road,Mogiligiddas woman sarpanch Saraswati Devi is coaxing a mini-tankers driver to bring the vehicle closer to her field. Buying drinking water is common in the cities,we are buying to save our crops here, she says. Depending on how much the farmer can afford,they are spending close to Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 per month to buy water for the fields. Mandal Revenue Officer of Farrukhnagar Srinivas Acharya says the northern part of Mahabubnagar district is facing a drought-like situation as there has been no rainfall. Due to lack of irrigation facilities,farmers are dependent mainly on rains and borewells,which are drying up. The panchayats are supplying water through tankers now, Acharya says. Close to 500 farmers here will be in trouble if it does not rain and crops die. Agriculture and Revenue department officials are blaming us for sowing water-intensive crops like cotton,but who knew four months ago that monsoon would fail? Now they say we should replace the existing crop with alternative less-water intensive crops. They are going to give us seeds free,but what about this crop? And what is the guarantee that the alternative crop will survive without water? asks Saraswati Devi. She is worried that even the panchayats borewell and a few private ones are drying up fast,which means water will have to brought from further away,making it more costly. Except for the three north coastal Andhra districts,the remaining 20 districts in the state have not received sufficient rainfall this year. The state government had said that it will take a decision on declaring a drought after waiting till August 15,but has now decided to wait till September first week.
